Disclaimer: All non-original characters and ideas mentioned here are SW material, not owned by me. Like countless others, I'm just playing in the Lucas Universe, inspired by Episode 3. Spoilers for it, as well.

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STAR WARS: The Forgotten

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Prologue-Coruscant, Imperial Palace, Year 001 BoE (Birth of Empire)

When the man had first seen the light of the Galaxy's capital as a child, they had seemed immense, gilded, and mammoth beyond reasoning. Thegold lining of a heaven where angels dwelled. Where my angel once dwelled.

Now he knew better. Living twelve years on the planet's industrialized, multileveled surface had accustomed him to the omnipresent glow of the city; it did not seem at all overwhelming now, even from the breathtaking view that readily offered itself from the palace.

The Sith Lord, barely three weeks old, did not have time to entertain the city lights, the weak, artificial things made to fend off the darkness, that couldn't even accomplish that successfully when night fell. No, banishing the darkness is an impossibility for all beings, Anakin Skywalker included.

The Imperial Palace, accordingly, was not very well-lit at all. Only two beings occupied the room, the very heart of the galaxy's authority. Neither of these two had much of a need for it- what need for eyes had they? Only the light from the city intruded upon the seat of power, reflecting off black, polished armor to illuminate the Sith. The light could do nothing to reveal the features of the other, the master.

Instead, Lord Vader felt his master's presence and heard his ghostly voice echo from the throne twisted as usual by the snarl in Palatine's demeanor. "Welcome, my young apprentice... I have decided upon your next task."

Another task. A trial. A new mission, and one step closer to achieving the mastery of the Dark SideI need. Good."What is thy bidding then, my master?"

The master's features could be seen only via a slender beam of neon once he stood, his features appearing weathered and ghoulish from his prior encounter with the damnable Jedi Master Windu. Mottled skin, yellow eyes that peered out of dark caves… but Vader knew firsthand just how misleading his master's appearance was.

There was not a single being left in this galaxy with the power to oppose him now, and the chance of that changing soon were very slim indeed.

But it will change in time, Vader mused, once I am ready. For now, my master's teachings are invaluable.

Without having to make another movement, the master conjured a pale blue image that floated before them both. Not a physical image, but one of numbers and text, coding accompanied by three-dimensional displays.

It only took Vader a beat to recognize a handful of Jedi names mentioned in the text.

"The data archives of the Jedi Temple", he observed uncaringly.

"Yes", the master hissed sinuously. "The last remaining copy, hidden in our new Empire's data net. No one else will ever see this brought to light."

A searing flame of annoyance ignited in Vader's heart, and he directed it to the task of forging the core of absolute rage that was his greatest weapon. "There is… something amiss on this list?"

Free Translation: "Get to the point." The master coughed, still not fully recovered from his fracas with Master Yoda. "Indeed. More than one- they have shut off the temple gathering signal we broadcasted at the end of the war, encrypted it so we may not use it again. Some Jedi have escaped our trap."

He felt comprehension, suddenly becoming more interest in the once-meaningless array of names and locations contained by the image. A spectacular hunt for the last of Jedi, then, including… including…

"But for now, there is nothing we can do", the master continued. "In time, we will seek them out. They cannot run from us for long- it is not in their nature. However, this text mentions another group which must be destroyed soon, Lord Vader."

No longer interested in the data, he fed another spark of annoyance to his great and mighty furnace. "No 'group' is a true threat to us, master- not without the dark side of the Force at their call. The Clone Troopers may handle that."

Now it was the master's turn to get angry. He waved a clawed hand swiftly to change the image, simultaneously exerting a slow, but utterly irresistible pressure on the mechanics that now bolstered Vader's largeframe. Over the audible crack of plasteel, he snarled. "I did not say they were not Jedi. In a way, they are more dangerous to us than the Jedi Council could ever be. I have given you a task, Lord Vader, and I expect it to be done. Obey."

Falling back from the pain, Vader shook off the cracking until it stopped, trying with all his will to inject absolute servitude into his tone. "Yes, my master. Who are they?"

Going back to an expression of sick joviality, the master tightened his gaze. "Being from a Jedi background, you may know them as the Forgotten Ones."

Vader's helm rose from his kneeling state. "I have no knowledge of such Jedi."

The master smiled contemptuously. "Of course, the Jedi would attempt to keep their shame a secret to all. Twenty Jedi over the course of three thousand years, all of whom left the Order willingly. My former apprentice was one of them."

Vader nodded, restraining his own instinctive contempt for both the Order and the man known both as Count Dooku and Darth Tyranus. The man who was now dead.

"Aside from the late Lord Tyranus", the master said, "there are five other Forgotten Jedi that currently remain alive somewhere in my galaxy. I have dispatched my spies to every remote corner, every hidden sanctuary available to them. We have a new enemy."

At this point, the master looked as if he were about to stop, but then held Vader's gaze after sensing a resurging arrogance in his apprentice. "Do not underestimate them. My spies did not find the Forgotten. Instead, they found a unisignal code not unlike the one denied to us at the Temple. This code is meant to signal a gathering."

He repeated the hand wave, changing the image to a planet Vader did not recognize, a vast blue marble with thin trails of white lacing it's exterior. Padme would have found it beautiful.

"The Forgotten have contacted each other with this", the master explained, sneering at the conspiracy he had only now learned of. "In three months, these five fools plan to gather in a secret council at Raltiir, and combine their power to oppose us. This cannot be allowed to happen."

Raltiir vanished before Vader's black metal visage just as quickly. He pressed on. "What must I do?"

Pleased by his newfound enthusiasm, the master smiled darkly. "Their signal was broadcast to five separate frequencies, five worlds where they have found refuge after their expulsion from the Order. You will go to each of these planets… and strike each of them down, one by one. It is safer that way. You may take whatever men and materiel you feel is necessary to accomplish your trial, Lord Vader."

For the first time in many hours, Vader felt warm, fiery blood surging in his veins against the machine parts. A new challenge. A new opportunity to test the murky ocean of power he had only just placed a toe into. And, a worthy task that will take my mind away from the pain of loss.

"As you wish… my master."

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The old, battered Jedi Starfighter would never serve his purposes for any number of reasons. Anakin Skywalker had flown the tiny craft in dozens of engagements during the Clone Wars, but the ship simply would not do.

For one thing, it was too small. The augmenting black armor he had worn from birth- the armor that still felt clumsy and dead to him- made his already muscular frame too large for an average starfighter. The ship was missing its counterpart astromech. It didn't have the storage capacity for the complex package of data his master had given him.

All that, and more- he wanted nothing to do with a Jedi Starfighter. It was a relic from the faded past, and it would not do to go hunting the Forgotten in that.

So, fates- and more likely, Vader's ever reliable master- had conspired to create something more to his liking. It stood on the landing platform of the palace, still fresh out of Kuat Drive Yards. The craft gleamed in the morning sun, the glossy metal coating giving its gray hull a shimmer that belied its purpose.

Two large engines nestled in spikes extending outward from the ball cockpit's single seat, paralleled by two more spikes bent back at a horizontal plane that contained the weapons. The prow of the custom-designedship jutted forward as a silver dagger, making it far longer than it was wide.

The banishment of Anakin Skywalker could not dim a natural born mechanic's aptitude, nor a pilots'. A little bit of both still resided in Vader, and he felt the left engine spike over with his right glove for weaknesses.

He found none. As usual, the absurdly wealthy aristocracy of Kuat Drive Yardshad turned out a flawless piece of work- not a weld or bolt out of place. Without a true weakness- it is what I wish to be. No… what I will be, once I have mastered the Dark Side. The power of Darth Plageius in the palm of my hand!

Facing a nervous techno, he ordered the Shadow Hunter to be prepped for immediate launch- it was all he would want or need for his trial.

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M: This is kind of short, I know, but the first real Chapter will be up in two days maximum. Oh, and tell me if I spelled Plageius wrong.